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Adobe Digital Editions software offers an engaging way to view and manage eBooks and other digital publications. Use it to download and purchase digital content, which can be read both online and offline.

Version 3.0 is an update to the popular Digital Editions 2.0 application.

Adobe Digital Editions can be used to read eBooks you download from library websites or popular booksellers. It may be used in high-contrast mode or with popular screen readers.

More information on how to use the application is provided in the Getting Started eBook included in the application download. After you download, install and run the application, the Getting Started eBook will be listed.

Adobe Digital Editions 3.0 is designed to work with assistive technologies on Mac and Windows. You must separately install/enable these applications. Installation instructions can be found on the respective web sites (JAWS, NVDA, or Window-Eyes on Windows and VoiceOver on Mac). Version 3.0 was designed with support for full keyboard controls (tab navigation and shortcuts), improved text enlargement, and support for high-contrast modes. Shortcuts are listed in the Getting Started eBook that is installed along with the Adobe Digital Editions.

Some digital publications that you purchase online or check out from a library may contain digital rights management (DRM) protection that restricts the items from being shared with others. Digital Editions helps ensure that your eBooks and other digital publications are not "locked" on one computer. They are assigned to you through an ID, and can be viewed on any compatible device you own that you activate with that ID.

An Adobe ID is a free and a nonintrusive way of identifying users. You need only provide a name, country, and e-mail address. You can create your Adobe ID when prompted within Adobe Digital Editions, or go directly to the Adobe.com, select “My Adobe” in the top-right corner, then click on “My Adobe ID” and follow the instructions for creating an Adobe ID.

Note that you create an Adobe ID from a web browser. Once you’ve received confirmation the Adobe ID is created, then you may close the browser and return to Adobe Digital Editions, and enter the Adobe ID and password you created.

1. If you activate your computer with Digital Editions anonymously, all the purchased or borrowed books afterwards belong to that computer.

2. If you activate your computer with Digital Editions with an ID, all the purchased or borrowed books afterwards belong to that ID.

3. The books downloaded before activation will not be converted.

4. Books can be copied from one device to another device. If two devices are activated with the same ID, purchased books can be opened on the other device. If the other device is not activated or if it is activated with another ID, a pop up window will appear to ask for ID when opening the purchased books. Borrowed books cannot be opened on another computer regardless its activation status. It is because that the loan token is not copied.

5. Borrowed books and their loan tokens will be copied when transfer (not copy, this is an ADE feature) them between computer and device (e-reader).

6. If the permission limits the books to be viewed on only one device, the copied books will not be able to be opened.

With Digital Editions 3.0, you may use other IDs to access an eBook. You may, for example, access a book from Google with a Google ID (referred to as a Vendor ID), or a book from Barnes & Noble (referred to as Bookseller ID). This is further described in the Getting Started eBook installed with Adobe Digital Editions.

Note that you can both authorize your computer with an Adobe ID, and selectively access individual books with alternate Ids, such as Vendor ID. Adobe Digital Editions will keep the two separate: if you download an eBook protected using a Vendor ID or Bookseller ID, then you’ll be prompted to access using that ID. Otherwise, it will either access to the Adobe ID you’ve authorized your computer with, or (if you chose not to authorize the computer with an Adobe ID) will authorize just for use on your computer.

Digital Editions utilizes Adobe PDF technology that has been optimized for small code size and lower system requirements. It is optimized for performance and onscreen readability, rather than graphic arts or prepress-level fidelity. As a result, some minor differences in graphics and font rendering are to be expected. In addition, the Digital Editions PDF implementation does not support several enterprise-oriented PDF features. These features are not typically used in PDF-based eBooks, and if present, they are ignored but may cause certain documents to render incorrectly.

Digital Editions supports a superset of ISO standard 19005-1 (PDF/A). PDF/A is designed to support more secure, long-term information archiving; it is based on a subset of PDF 1.4 (the version of PDF supported by Acrobat 5.0). Additional PDF capabilities in Digital Editions beyond PDF/A include basic encryption, DRM-based encryption, JBIG2 image compression, transparency, and compressed object streams. The intention is to support PDF features reasonably needed by eBooks and other commercially published content, balancing 100% coverage with a focus on small size and high performance.

No, Digital Editions is not licensed for distribution on external websites. You may provide a link from your website to access the Adobe Digital Editions download on adobe.com. Please visit the Permissions and Trademark Guidelines site for more information.

EPUB is the file extension of an XML format for reflowable digital books and publications. It consists of three open standards: Open Publication Structure (OPS), Open Packaging Format (OPF), and Open Container Format (OCF). EPUB is produced by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). EPUB allows publishers to produce and send a single digital publication file through distribution and offers consumers interoperability between software/hardware for unencrypted reflowable digital books and other publications.

Support for Japanese text layout of EPUB documents authored to the EPUB3 specification. It does not support all of EPUB3. However, it does support many critical features, such as vertical mode, TCY, Ruby, Kenten and Kinsoku.